Club Country

I think this song is about a mental asylum in Dundee, actually. "Country Club" is perhaps a nickname for a former institution near where the band members lived, and as so the name refers to it.

Some of the lyrics seem to imply it - "Old and sickening at the country club" probably refers to the people sent there to rot away for the rest of their lives, and "Your limitations are our every care" is probably the most obvious it gets. "If we stick around we're sure to be looked down upon" probably refers to the self-loathing the narrator has for himself and the people around him, which is what many feel about in a poor mental state (as in an institution).

In it's entirety the song revolves around paranoia and insanity, just like the previous single "Party Fears Two" from the band. Additionally, "Bap de la Bap" and a few other similar songs revolve around concepts of the weak and insane, so it wouldn't be out of field to say that that's what Mackenzie was implying.

You have to wonder if his songwriting was a precursor to his fate, perhaps.

This song follows on from Party Fears Two with similar themes about mistrust and paranoia with regard to social events, also having a go at the pretensions of try to impress at "Country Clubs", with lyrics like "sad to see that you're suffering, worked hard at being a something."

does anyone have a midi track for this? let me know!

I have an idiosyncratic interpretation of this song which I realise has no connection to authorial intention.

I see this song as being about a farm for physically perfect people who have been kidnapped and kept alive, into which rich people's brains are uploaded when they die, and which are harvested for organs when they are still alive, so to me it has a kind of edgy, horrific, science fictional vibe. To go through the lyrics:

The fault is, I can find no fault in you - physically perfect people.

Alive and kicking - the people are still alive when their organs are harvested or their personalities wiped and replaced by the rich people's.

We're old and sickening at the Country Club - the old rich people are unhealthy and pay to have their bodies repaired by transplants from unwitting donors. A drive from nowhere leaves you in the cold - the farm is in a remote place where it can be kept secret. Refrigeration keeps you young I'm told - people are frozen so their organs can be kept fresh after they have had too many organs removed to survive. Your limitations are our every care - The limitations are what they can no longer do due to the ageing process. Every breath you breathe belongs to... someone there - the inmates of the farm are owned by the rich and also the rich have stolen the lives, i.e. the "breath" of the victims.

Therein lies the perfect pseudonym - Pseudonym is perfect because they actually are that person in a sense, either because they occupy their bodies or have taken their organs. To think you've learned to know someone and find That you don't know don't know them at all - because they are in fact a different person.

Sad to see that you're suffering - feigned sympathy to market the services of the club/farm and persuade the wealthy to use their services. Work hard at being a something - at being a "something", i.e. a non-person. Don't be a person because you're just a commodity for the rich.

To me it's uncanny how well this interpretation fits the lyrics, but I'm fully aware there is no connection between my imagined interpretation and what the author meant. I've had this interpretation of it ever since it was released as a single in 1982.

Simon Reynolds' book on post punk, Rip It Up And Start Again , with some supporting quotes from Alan Rankine, says it's a dig at the posing in the new romantic club scene of the time - Billy Mackenzie had been involved in it and had gone to clubs like the Blitz, but ultimately found it very shallow

Simon Reynolds' book on post punk, Rip It Up And Start Again , with some supporting quotes from Alan Rankine, says it's a dig at the posing in the new romantic club scene of the time - Billy Mackenzie had been involved in it and had gone to clubs like the Blitz, but ultimately found it very shallow